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A Gotye parody in The Key of Awesome!

Here's the real reson why Walk Off the Earth was down to one guitar for the band's breakout YouTube cover. 

 

Jordan Valinsky

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Posted on Feb 10, 2012   Updated on Jun 2, 2021, 9:35 pm CDT

The evolution of a pop song has basic four stages:

  • 1) Band releases song.
  • 2) An overtly hip YouTube star or band makes cover of said song
  • 3) A parody is created of that overtly hip YouTube version
  • 4) You want to drive your car off a cliff when you hear any version of that song since it’s been overplayed.

For those keeping track at home, we’re in stage three of Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used to Know.” Released by The Key of Awesome, the comedy troupe’s brilliant take down has garnered 380,000 views since its release Wednesday.

The parody’s actually based off Walk off the Earth’s too-serious rendition of “Somebody That I Used to Know” by what appears to be an aspiring group of stage-crew worker, using only one guitar. The four-minute video shows the dress code-regulated band stare into the abyss while singing. Since its release in early January, the video’s collected 50 million views.

The parody paints a bleaker picture of what’s really happening to Walk off the Earth. Poor Tony, the bearded dude on the right, had to sell his instruments to gangsters—hence why the band is down to just one guitar. Also, he’s a drug addict!

“He says they help him write, but we’re a cover band,” the singer realizes.

As the song progresses, we learn what a dispirited, and hungry, group they are. They’re homeless, poor, and stole the voice from Peter Gabriel. The big shocker comes when the blond singer reveals she’s pregnant with the band’s baby, and all hell breaks lose.

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*First Published: Feb 10, 2012, 2:30 pm CST